*Book 1 in the DragonKin series*
Vada and her siblings spend their days carving out a living in the Rystwith Mountain village of Riska. Together they live as outcasts in a small two-story hut just outside the lowland village centre, cast out due to...
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Over the next few weeks, Vada worked tirelessly to form a village from the ground up. Temporary shelters had been erected in the form of tipis. Vada also offered her house to the mothers with young children but permanent homes were desperately needed.
The humans without Kin relatives had returned to their own villages as soon as they were strong enough. Many with older children had also chosen to leave, allowing their beloved offspring to stay behind for training. As Chieftess, Vada was now responsible for a group of young, powerful teenagers that needed a firm hand to keep them in line and training to keep them from destroying the village. Luckily, Vada thought, she was experienced in building a life from nothing, this time she would just do the same again, only on a larger scale.
Vada wasn't the kind of leader to delegate all the work. Instead, she was always in the thick of things. From helping to gather building materials and hammering nails to weaving baskets and toiling in the gardens.Everyone was expected to work. Even the children joined in, collecting sticks for firewood, working in the gardens, harvesting wild berries or gathering eggs from the chickens Vada had purchased from Riska.
Working hard alongside her people, she was soon on friendly terms with most of the village, she not only knew their names but their stories too. Many nights with heavy eyes and aching muscles were spent beside a warm fire, enjoying a hearty meal and hearing tales from across the mountains. Both kin and human were welcome at the firepit, and all listened with respect and reverence for the journeys their neighbours had made.
'Excuse me, Chieftess Vada,' a gentle voice called to her one morning, while she ate breakfast by the communal fire around which the village seemed to be forming. Gulping down her fried eggs she turned towards the voice to find a familiar brown-haired, brown-eyed girl, staring at the floor but waiting patiently for her attention. Vada hadn't spoken to her before as she rarely left Bram's side and she had no desire to be pulled into any kind of conversation with him.
'Can I help you?' Vada answered, trying to keep all emotion from her voice.
'We haven't formally met, my name is Diya and I... I was wondering if I could have a job. Bram won't let me help with anything so I thought if I came directly to you instead-'
'Well Diya,' Vada cut in abruptly, 'I don't think it's my place to intervene in your relationship disputes.' Depositing her dirty plate in a large tub to be collected and cleaned by the folk in charge of breakfast that week, Vada began to leave for her days work.
In truth Vada had often noticed Diya sitting daintily with a very bored look on her face and felt pity for her, but such feelings were always fleeting when she caught sight of Bram right alongside the girl, grinning broadly and cajoling her into fits of laughter. Vada's heart had been both confused and conflicted for a while. And so she had decided that, in light of the great many things she had to be responsible for, it was best to keep her distance and with that her focus.
'I really want to pitch in,' Diya continued, stumbling after Vada, struggling to keep up with the Chieftess's strong strides but determined to say her piece while she had the courage. 'Please, I understand that Bram will probably dislike you even more but I can't just sit by and watch everyone else work all the time. Everyone looks at me like I'm some kind of-'
'Freeloader?' Vada snapped.
The girl flinched at Vada's tone and blushed beneath her fiery gaze.
